Category: Congress

GSA’s commercial platforms gaining steam, but data, other concerns persist

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Three years into the Commercial Platforms Initiative, the vision Congress had for the initiative isn’t necessarily coming to fruition. But new data and analysis shows that doesn’t mean it’s a failure by any means. The number of agencies using the platform more than quadrupled between 2020 and 2022 to 27 and the spending, while far below initial estimates of $ 6 billion have increased to $ 40 million last fiscal year. And beyond the raw numbers, agencies told the Government Accountability Office in a new report that it is saving them…

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Now both chambers of Congress are investigating Microsoft email breach

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As Congress settles into August recess, investigations into a high-profile hack of government email accounts are just starting to heat up. The House Oversight and Accountability Committee is now probing the breaches of unclassified Microsoft email accounts at the Commerce Department and State Department, respectively, by a China-linked group. In separate letters sent to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken today, lawmakers request staff briefings on the breaches no later than Aug. 9. The hackers were reportedly able to access the unclassified email of Raimondo herself,…

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Contractors are also combing through the House and Senate defense authorization bills

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The defense authorization bills, while contentious, would do a lot for contractors; from inflation relief to easing greenhouse gas emissions reporting. For a summary,  Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Haynes Boone procurement attorney Dan Ramish. Interview Transcript:  Tom Temin The defense authorization bills, while contentious, would do a lot for contractors from inflation relief to easing greenhouse gas emissions reporting. We get a summary from Haynes Boone procurement attorney Dan Ramish. And I guess, Dan, we should begin by noting, even though the House and the Senate have…

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Are budget cuts the best way to fix troubled agencies?

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Washington’s ticker tape of controversy has wrapped around several agencies and departments. Republicans in Congress would fix things by cutting their budgets. But is that the best way to cause reform? Not according to the guest of Federal Drive with Tom Temin, former American University Professor Bob Tobias. Interview Transcripts:  Tom Temin And Bob, you’re concerned about what seems to be happening around two agencies, in particular, the IRS and the Office of Personnel Management. The IRS is having its tintinnabulation on Capitol Hill these days. But let’s talk about…

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A policy rider in Congress would mean the end of TSP’s mutual fund window

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Out of all the updates to the Thrift Savings Plan last June, and the massive pushback from participants that came along with them, there’s one change that has had perhaps a little less time in the spotlight. Along with rolling over to a new recordkeeper, updating the My Account platform, launching a TSP mobile app and much more last summer, participants also saw a massive uptick in their investment options with the launch of the TSP mutual fund window. The TSP’s entirely voluntary investment window contains about 5,000 different mutual…

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Sen. Grassley puts hold on Biden’s deputy VA pick

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The federal government is setting a new record for overall small business contract spending. More than a quarter of federal contracting dollars went to small businesses last year. That is well above a 23% goal set governmentwide. Ten agencies earned an A-plus on the Small Business Administration’s contracting scorecard, and another 10 received A’s. SBA Administrator Isabel Guzman said small business owners in the federal marketplace support over a million jobs, including jobs in manufacturing, construction, and research and development. (Agencies making ‘substantial progress’ toward higher small, disadvantaged contracting goal…

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